Stupid opks already stressing me out and wish I hadn't bothered :(

[VJONES1985]

I promised myself we would embark on the ttc journey in a relaxed way and take it from there. But I can't relax about anything and decided to use opks straight away and they're already stressing me out :( Can anyone offer some words of support or help?

cd8 - nothing
cd9 - nothing
cd10 - faint line
cd11 (today) - even fainter line

So what should I make of that?? Yesterday I was positive, today I'm feeling much less so!

You always have some LH in your system, so faint lines mean absolutely nothing! Wait until you get a strong positive. You're only on cd11!

If it's stressing you out, ditch them and just dtd every other day.

Ah, see I didnt

Was going to say! - I didn't know you always have some LH in your system, so I'm glad I asked now! Thanks for your response.

im a bit anti opks since having a positive smiley one and no ovulation!

i think they get you in more of a tizz than just reading your body for symptoms and even then, they arent always right!

Just to say you might want to try POAS twice a day, as it might be that you surged overnight on days 9/10. I found that I always got strongest results in the morning, even though it tells you not to test then - everyone is different.

But as blueamber says it is only on CD11 so give it a chance.

Squigglypig - I currently test roughly at the same time each day but perhaps next month I will think of moving the time.

suzietwo - what did you mean by getting a smiley result but not ovulating?

smiley opk indicated LH surge on cd 13. period started cd 49. i dont think i have a 36 day LP!

Ah, I see. What a shame we all seem to become crazy women when we try for a baby!!

Suzietwo - you might have ovulated twice that cycle? I've heard that's possible?

But I agree OPKs can be a pain. I only use cheapies from Amazon so at least I don't feel like I've wasted too much money on them, and actually I probably don't really need to anymore as I seem to usually ovulate at roughly same time every month anyway.

Are you temping as well OP?

I like to see if a few different things align so I can be confident I haven't missed or misread anything!

No,I wouldn't know where to stay with temping,I don't know what I'm looking for.

It takes one month to get a full cycle before its meaningful, but it isn't too difficult.

Look at Fertilityfriend. It's free, and does all the calculations for you! They also have a lesson plan they send you through email, which is interesting.

Okay, I will do that, thanks

You can't ovulate twice in a cycle. Once you ovulate you either get your AF or your pregnant. What can happen is that your body gears up for ovulation, including getting a positive OPK and then it just doesn't happen. Instead, it will try again later.

I had that once, very frustrating waiting for AF and getting negative pregnancy tests. Since then I've started temping. Basically, you take your temperature every morning before getting out of bed (your BBT - basic body temperature). After ovulation, progesterone levels will rise, which means your temperature will rise slightly. So the idea is that when you get your temp rise you know you ovulated the day before. If you have regular cycles, this means that the next month you can try and predict when you will ovulate. It takes a lot of effort though, so maybe only start doing this when you're not sure if you're ovulating or the OPKs don't work for you.

• you're pregnant

• basal body temperature, not basic. Gosh, my head is still with my stupid dissertation I'm trying to finish.

Good luck for your dissertation, blueamber! Mind if I ask what you're studying?

Oh, blueamber, having re-read your post, am I right in thinking that, while a positive OPK means you are due to ovulate in the next 24-36 hours, an increase in body temperature means you have already so if you have not already dtd, you have 12 hours to dtd (because eggs only survive for that long).

That's the thing about temping, once you get the temp shift its too late to conceive, as you get it the day or two days after you ovulate. But it confirms if you have ovulated, and it can help you predict your next cycle.

I'm doing a phd in social sciences and I'm fed up! But thanks for asking

Ah, I see. Will be worth me bearing in mind for next month if I still need to work out if I'm ovulating.

A phd? Don't think I'd have the brains for that one ;-)

No cm at all today. Am trying to make myself accept that I may not ovulate at all this month, because I don't want to get my hopes up. Have had a lot of dull aching though, which I guess is my body just getting used to being off the pill again.

OP, how long are your cycles? The time between ovulation and your period is always roughly 14 days. If you have a 28 day cycle you're likely to ovulate on day 14 and if you have a 35 day cycle its likely that you'd ovulate on day 21.
Unless your cycle is 26 days or shorter you may not have had an LH surge yet. Nil desperandum, missus

Also OPKs are only part of the story. I'd recommend having a wee look at natural family planning where they teach about the consistency of the cervical mucous and the feel of the cervix (which change just before ovulation) as well as temperature charting. All of these indicators layered together will give you a really good idea of when you're ovulating.

Well,this is the thing - this is my first month off the pill so I don't know how long my cycles are. As for cm, I had some clear, sticky stuff for a couple of days and that was it so I don't know whether I'm going to ovulate or not. Very frustrating!

OP, keep testing. The pill takes about a week to stop working and then its just guess work as to when you'll ovulate after that.
When did you have the clear mucous? That's quite a good sign of ovulation.
Keep your chin up, its a bit too early to feel so down hearted, try to enjoy having lots of lovely sex with some one you love enough to have a baby with